News

April 15, 2010

Steven W. Semes Wins the 2010 Clem Labine Award

Steven W. Semes, winner of the 2010 Clem Labine Award.

Steven W. Semes has been chosen as the recipient of the second annual Clem Labine Award. The award is sponsored by Restore Media, publisher of Traditional Building and Period Homes magazines and producer of the Traditional Building Exhibition and Conference, and given annually to the person who, in the judgment of the Award Selection Committee, has done the most to "foster humane values in the built environment."

Semes will formally receive the honor at the annual Restore Media Awards Dinner in Chicago on October 21. The dinner and awards ceremony, which will also honor the 2010 Palladio Award winners, is part of the Traditional Building Exhibition and Conference, which will be held October 20-23.

"The goal of the award is to honor an individual who, over an extended period of time, has demonstrated a personal commitment to infusing humane values into the creation of public and urban spaces," says Clem Labine, founder of Traditional Building, Period Homes and Old-House Journal.  "The award's underlying conviction is that the humanist principles of the Classical tradition are essential to creating a civil society. The winner of the Clem Labine Award is recognized more for personal achievement than for what he/she is paid to do as an occupation. The winning individual is always an example of a life with a purpose."

The Award Selection Committee had been well aware of Semes' many years of work in preservation and sensitive design, as well as his articles, blogs and lectures. But with the publication of his new book, The Future of the Past, it was clear there could be no other winner this year. Semes' book not only proposes a redefined preservation ethic, but also points the way towards a more humane urbanism.

Co-chairs of the Award Selection Committee were Martha McDonald, editor of Traditional Building magazine, and Will Holloway, editor of Period Homes magazine. Clem Labine, editor emeritus of both magazines, was an advisory member of the committee.

In announcing Semes as the 2010 winner, McDonald and Holloway said that Semes' book is a major development in urban theory, and sets forth new criteria for what is appropriate in the creation of people-friendly civic spaces. "It is a truly outstanding personal achievement," they noted.

Steven W. Semes is the Academic Director of the Rome Studies Program and Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Notre Dame. A practicing architect for 30 years, he has designed a wide variety of projects for preservation and new construction throughout the United States. Semes' latest book is The Future of the Past: A Conservation Ethic for Architecture, Urbanism, and Historic Preservation (2009). He is also author of The Architecture of the Classical Interior (2004) and was a contributor to The Elements of Classical Architecture (2001). All were published by W.W. Norton & Co. His essays and reviews have appeared in Traditional Building, Period Homes, American Arts Quarterly and the National Trust Forum Journal. He is a Fellow Emeritus of the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America and was educated at the University of Virginia and Columbia University. More information about Semes is available at his website, www.thefutureofthepast.net.

The recipient of the 2009 Clem Labine Award was architect Alvin Holm of Philadelphia, PA. Holm was honored for his untiring commitment to teaching, which has informed two generations of designers about the vocabulary and meanings of Classical design.

"This award is especially meaningful to me because it follows last year's award to one of my most important teachers and mentors, Alvin Holm," says Semes. "I accept this recognition of my writing and advocacy over the last several years as being most importantly a recognition that our thinking about the relationship of contemporary architecture and urbanism to historic buildings and cities needs to be fundamentally re-examined. It sems that the lay community is already far ahead of the professionals and academics on this issue. I will consider my mission accomplished to the extent that I can stimulate a fruitful debate that leads to a greater respect for our historics buildings, neighborhoods and landscapes. I want to thank all the colleagues, clients and students who have helped shape my thinking on these issues so far, and I look forward to the contributions that they and others will make to the discussion as it evolves."